Popular priest James Flavin to return to Brockton for 25th anniversary of ordination

James Flavin, who served 16 years as a priest in Brockton, from 1992 to 2007, will be returning to where he still calls home this Sunday for a special mass at St. Edith Stein Parish and a reception at The Shaw’s Center in celebration of his 25th year as an ordained priest.

With 1,200 people on hand to pay their respects to the late John Waldron, the Rev. James Flavin was able to pierce through their grief and find laughter.

“I’m sure John and Finnie (former city Building Superintendent Robert Finnegan) are up there (in heaven) laughing that all of you are stuck here in church this morning,” he said.

His ability to know someone as a friend, despite his priest’s collar, was illustrated in that moment, said John’s wife, Mary Waldron, who has known Flavin for 15 years.

“Father Flavin couldn’t have said anything more appropriate,” she said. “Everybody said it was right on. He hit it. He knew him.”

Flavin served 16 years in the city has a priest at Christ the King and St. Edith Stein parishes, from 1992 to 2007. He will be coming back to where he still calls home this Sunday for a special Mass at St. Edith Stein and reception at The Shaw’s Center in celebration of the 25th anniversary of his ordination as a priest.

The Mass will be at 11:30 a.m. at 631 North Main St. The reception will be held immediately following at 1 Lexington Ave.

Flavin was known for his community involvement, his work as chaplain for the Police and Fire departments, and perhaps most famously for his friendship with actor Mark Wahlberg, whom he met in his first parish assignment in Dorcester in the 1980s.

Wahlberg is currently promoting a film he is in, Flavin said, and he didn’t know if he would be able to attend on Sunday.

“I feel like I’m coming home to my party. I could have done it in Philly, could have done it anywhere, but I wanted to do it here,” Flavin said in a phone interview with The Enterprise.

Flavin is now based in Philadelphia, where he is the director of a hospital that treats priests with drug, alcohol or psychiatric issues. Despite the distance, this will be his third trip back to Brockton in the past year.

It was a connection that he never saw coming.

“When I first got the assignment (to go to Brockton), I thought, ‘Why would I want to go down there? It has such a terrible reputation.’ But once I got there, I just realized there are so many good people trying to make that city work.”

Brockton attorney Mark Petti credits Flavin with keeping him in the Catholic church.

“He keeps people current with the church and, more importantly, keeps the church current,” he said by relating to people as a human being.

Petti said he and local doctor Ed Freccero still make time to have dinner with Flavin every few weeks.

“When we have dinner with Father Flavin, I think the table represents the best stewardship of body, mind and spirit,” Petti said, pausing for the punch line. “And then there’s Ed and me.”

Page 2 of 2 - Former Police Chief William Conlon had high praise for Flavin’s work as chaplain.

“He was a regular fixture around the police station. Very popular with the guys,” Conlon said.

Flavin earned a lot of respect in 2006, Conlon said, when a popular long-time patrolman, Joe Sutherland, died of a heart attack on duty.

“Father Flavin was right there. It was late at night. He was there in the emergency room. ... He could have just said, ‘Call me tomorrow, and we’ll gather at the office,’” Conlon said. “He called the guys together, about 20 guys (in the emergency room). He gathered everybody around, said a beautiful prayer. It was just a moment where you felt like he was speaking for God, really. That’s just an illustration of who he was.”

It’s also an illustration for Flavin of Brockton’s character: a place that rallies when times are tough.

Flavin remembers one particular moment in 2000 when a fire ripped through a Spring Street home killing two young brothers, ages 4 and 2.

“They (the firefighters) were having trouble during the fire locating the kids. When they found them it was just so devastating to the family and everybody to go through this. We just really came together to support the family,” he said. “In a terrible tragedy, it was Brockton at its best.”